36. Boxing Day 2021

It's Boxing Day 2021 and exactly one year since I sat in my living room with just a laptop, a can of coke, some Christmas telly on in the background and Football Manager 2021. The leagues were loading and only fate would decide on where my footballing destiny lay. The letter wheel took me to the Asian Kingdom of Cambodia, somewhere I knew little about apart the obvious and certainly nothing in a footballing sense. The club I took over was even more mysterious, The Electricity company.. The 'British Gas' of Cambodia, Electricitie du Cambodge. In the past year sat on my sofa in West Yorkshire we have experienced a relegation battle, a Keegan-style meltdown, a domestic cup final and an exodus of players. The fact I have stayed at one club throughout the past year is testement to how I have enjoyed managing this little part time club and trying to beat the bigger teams and win the C-League title. 

The past year has also seen these posts win three awards on the Official Sports Interactive Football Manager forums, Story of The Year, Writer of the Year and Newcomer of the year. 

So I just wanted to say thankyou to all those people from right around the world for reading this Football Manager story. I have regular readers in the USA, Ireland, Portugal, The Netherlands the UK and even in Cambodia itself and am always fascinated with the different countries this blog is read in from around the world. 

So wherever you are in the world, Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year. Up the EDC!

Read Part 37: Rome Wasn't Built In A Day here!

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

76. Farewell EDC

Image
My tenure at EDC had come to an abrupt end and in one of the worse ways possible. My interfering new chairman, Sann Veasna sold, or gave away one of best players, Men Samnang to our bitter rivals, Khemera without telling anybody else and it only came to light on the morning of a televised match against Phnom Penh Crown. This was a clear breach of trust between manager and chairman, one that is essential for the successful running of a football club on and off the field. I had not known Sann Veasna long, but it was clear to me by his actions how this was going to play out and it was something I did not want to be part of any more.. His interfering ways in recruitment, training and with some of the players themselves had affected everybody from the cleaning ladies to me the manager. There was an underlying reason also and that was an acceptance that while we remained semi-professional, we would always be the bridesmaids in the C-League, finishing around 5th each season. Thirdly this is T
Read more

1. The Ultimate World Football Manager Game – The Set Up Part 1.

Image
  Saturday 26 th December 2020 (in real life) Boxing Day is arguably the most important day in the world sporting calendar. Traditionally and in a normal year it was the day when men would ‘escape’ after spending the previous day with family and loved ones. This year was different, the year we were advised to be ‘jolly careful’ by our Prime Minister, Boris Johnson and it was the time where I only had one day to see my parents on Christmas Day. My original plans for Boxing Day 2020 had been kyboshed by the tightening of restrictions just days before. My Dad though has a saying, ‘Preparation meeting opportunity’ Sat in my living room with just my laptop, a can of coke and some background Christmas telly, Boxing Day 2020 was the perfect day to start my epic footballing journey. The one I had been planning for the past three months… Back in October and with a second lockdown in the UK looming I had an idea. Having relegated my Football manager fix from FM18 to Football Manager Mobile
Read more

71. Transfers and Takeovers

Image
  It was two days after the party and the first day back at training. In this time I'd had time to reflect on the events and Hem Vutha's shock announcement. I had very much mixed feelings about the situation. On the one hand a new chairman and one with a bit more money and ambition than Hem Vutha might be what is needed to drive us forward towards the league title and become the fifth professional Cambodian club. Then, would any new chairman want to bring in their own manager to lead the team and get rid of me? I won't lie I have had thoughts of moving away from EDC, hence my dalliance with Melaka in Malaysia, but then Charlotte happened at the same time and I wouldn't have got the job anyway.. Whichever way this panned out I would have to try and carry on as normal. Luckily all this was happening in the early pre-season so would not affect the players much as they would be on their holidays and doing extra shifts at he Electricity Company as they often did between Nove
Read more